PHILADELPHIA -- Shabazz Napier made like Kemba Walker and Jeremy Lamb made like Jeremy Lin.

Villanova squandered a second straight huge lead and UConn kept its NCAA tournament hopes alive with a thrilling 73-70 overtime win over the Wildcats Monday night at the Wells Fargo Center.

Napier hit a 30-footer with .6 seconds left to play to give the Huskies the lead for good. Ty Johnson threw away the ensuing inbounds pass, and the Huskies had the absolutely vital victory.

"Everybody contributed," said Lamb. "It was a great win for us, a great team win. That's what we needed."

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Lamb finished with a career-high 32 points, including 10 of UConn's 13 in the extra session. Napier took care of the final three, capping a rather eventful couple of days for the sophomore point guard.

Following Saturday's home loss to Marquette, Napier publicly lambasted his teammates, questioning their hearts, among other things. He had also re-aggravated a strained ligament in his right foot, didn't practice on Sunday and wasn't sure if he'd be able to play on Monday until about four minutes before the game.

"James (Doran, UConn's trainer) said it was highly doubtful," said Napier, who didn't start but wound up logging 30 minutes. "I told him, give me some pills, some Ibuprofen, and I think I'll be alright. It was still hurting, but I was able to play with it. I didn't play at 100 percent, but I played enough."

Lamb hit one of two free throws to put UConn up 70-68 with 10.9 seconds left in overtime. Johnson countered with a driving layup with 5.4 ticks left on the clock. Alex Oriakhi inbounded the ball to Napier, who took it over halfcourt and unleashed his lengthy 3-pointer with about 2 seconds showing on the clock.

"When I shot it, it felt good, whether it went in or not," Napier said, adding that he had a "flashback" to his high school days. "I used to do that a lot in high school, a lot of game-winners. Usually, I hit them from real, real deep. I just shot it, and I was able to make the shot."

And because he did, the Huskies improved to 17-10 overall, 7-8 in the Big East, and kept their NCAA tournament hopes alive heading into Saturday's home showdown with No. 2 Syracuse.

"That was a great team win," said associate head coach George Blaney.

Lamb deserved the bulk of the credit, scoring 20 of his points in the second half and overtime.

"Jeremy played terrific," Napier said. "I think he could play like that most of the time. Today, he had to go the extra step, because I wasn't 100 percent. Once he saw that, I think he really went at it and had to be an offensive threat."

But there were other heroes. Oriakhi's putback with 23.6 seconds left in regulation tied the game. Villanova's JayVaughn Pinkston had a chance to win it but missed the shot, 'Nova couldn't convert the rebound, and it was on to overtime.

Roscoe Smith finished with seven points and five rebounds but dozens of hustle plays, including a huge play with 25.8 seconds left in OT when he fought Pinkston for a rebound and knocked it off the Villanova forward out-of-bounds, keeping the ball in UConn's possession after a Ryan Boatright missed free throw. Lamb followed by knocking down a pair of freebies to give the Huskies a 69-66 lead.

Andre Drummond added eight points and 11 boards for the Huskies.

It's worth noting that Villanova (11-16, 4-11) was without the services of its leading scorer, Maalik Wayns, who's out with a sprained MCL in his right knee. The short-handed Wildcats had squandered a 20-point lead to Notre Dame two days earlier, also losing in overtime by a 74-70 tally.

It's also worth noting that the first 12 minutes of the game were unquestionably UConn's worst 12 minutes of its season.

At one point midway through the opening half, UConn went 11 straight possessions without scoring -- 10 missed shots and three turnovers. Villanova scored 12 points during that span, opening up a 26-8 advantage, and it appeared the Huskies had hit rock-bottom.

But Lamb converted a conventional 3-point play to finally end UConn's 7½-minute drought, and the floodgates opened. The Huskies outscored Villanova 22-4 over the final 8:06 of the half -- keyed by 10 points from Lamb -- and somehow found themselves tied at the break.

The 18-point deficit was the largest UConn has overcome to win a game this season, trumping a comeback from 13 points down to Coppin State back on Nov. 20.

Napier believes his team responded to his pointed criticism on Saturday.

"They understood where I was coming from," he said. "I probably said too much, and (the media) probably led it to a different point, but I understand. I just want my teammates to go out there and give there all. Today, they did. I can't complain. We had a lot of problems today, and we stuck with it."